Going Ghost
by Zander L. Jones
Summary: When an increase of ghost attacks begins to ware Danny down he and his friends investigate. What are all these ghosts looking for and what does it have to do with Danny? Does a certain Wisconsin villain have something to do with it? Check it out to find the answers! *Over 1000 views!*
1. Chapter 1: Unaware

**Hello everybody! How do you do? This is my first FanFic! I know that might turn some people off to reading but, take a chance, who knows, maybe you'll be surprised! Without further ado I introduce to you the first chapter of 'Going Ghost'. I do not own Danny Phantom...If I did you could be hella sure it'd still be on! Anyways...**

**Chapter 1: Unaware**

"Not again." He muttered to himself as a faint wisp of cold air escaped his mouth. As Danny turned around, floating just above the city he called home, he saw a small scurry of people fleeing from the post office.

He flew down to it knowing just which nuisance he would find inside.

"I am the Box Ghost! Beware my evil scheeemes!"

"Don't you have anything better to do? I know I certainly do." The young halfa said lazily as his hands began to glow that familiar ghostly green.

The box ghost, now fully surrounded by hovering boxes began to throw them at Danny one by one. Danny, of course, easily dodged each one either by turning intangible or by shooting an ectoball at them.

"Really?" He asked, annoyed yet somewhat amused at the sheer ignorance of some ghosts.

"You will regret ruining my boxes, young ghost boy!"

"I highly doubt that." Danny said, pulling out his Fenton Thermos and absorbing the annoying and harmless ghost into it.

The familiar green glow that encased the surroundings of whatever ghost was attacking Amity Park slowly dissipated and Danny flew out of the store, knowing full well this little run-in had made him late to meet his friends.

He flew faster than his usual speed, not wanting to hold the gang up too long. He dove down to the park where he spotted his friends and morphed back into Danny Fenton, behind a tree.

"Dude, what took so long?" Tucker asked, sitting on top a picnic table, his feet on the seat next to the familiar goth girl.

"Let me guess, Box ghost?" Sam asked before Danny could get a word in.

"The second time in two days." Danny said as he took a seat across from Sam who was sipping on a soda and flipping through the Amity Park Squealer. "Anything good in there?" Danny asked with raised eyebrows when he saw what his friend was reading.

"Not much, just the usual 'Ghost attack at City Hall', 'Evil ghosts attacking Casper High for the third time this Week', yadah yadah." She said closing the now boring newspaper.

"Tell me about it," Tucker started, "I linked my PDA to give me alerts whenever a new ghost story came out and it beeped so many times I almost got caught in class with it." Tucker said as he got off from the table and sat next to Danny.

Sam looked over at Danny to ask what his thoughts were when she saw how concentrated his expression had been.

"There have definitely been more attacks than usual, even for Amity Park. Before the Box Ghost, I had to fend off the Lunch Lady and Skulker." He said, with somewhat of a frown on his face.

"I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe the ghosts are just getting bored staying in the Ghost zone for so long." Tucker said as he played a simple game of Doom on his PDA.

"Yeah Danny, I'm sure it's nothing." Sam tried to reassure him, seeing that he was still concerned.

"I guess you're both right, besides, the more ghosts there are the more time I have to practice my new skills." He said, smiling to himself as he remembered how last week he had been able to develop a snowball in his hand.

Interrupting his reverie, Sam said, "We better get going, we already missed the first showing but we can still catch the second.", referring to the movie that the Box Ghost had made them late for, Night of the Living Wardrobe.

"Yeah, let's get going." Danny said.

"Mind if you give us a ride? We left our scooters at home, thinking we had time to walk." Tucker said.

Although he didn't say it with an accusative tone, Danny still tensed a bit when he heard that he had messed up their plans once again.

Catching the slight change in the boy she admired so much, Sam said, "No worries though, seeing the scenery from above is way better than walking through it."

Danny smiled at Sam who readily met him with a smile in return.

"Let's go." Danny said, after looking around to make sure the coast was clear and morphing into Danny Phantom. He grabbed his two friends' waists, turned invisible and flew off in the direction of the Cineplex.

Little did they know, they were not going to see a movie at all that night.

**To Be Continued**

***I can promise you that, now since I've written however many chapters for 'Going Ghost' that it does in fact get better the more you read. Each chapter I've learned something new and I know I judge a fic by its first chapter and I'm asking you to pretty please not do what I do ha. Please feel free to review! I would absolutely love to know what I'm doing wrong &amp; of course right ;).**


	2. Chapter 2: All His Fault

**Chapter 2**

"My parents are going to kill me." Tucker said.

"_My _parents are going to kill me." Sam added.

"I'm pretty sure we're all in big trouble." Danny said, holding onto his best friends as he was flying quickly to Tucker's house to drop him off first.

"I can't believe Technus was able to take over all the screens at the theater." Tucker mused, slightly admiring the technology savvy ghost who had ruined what was left of their plans.

"And I can't believe we're all an hour late for our **curfews-again."** Sam said, almost having the phrase etched on her mouth.

"I really am sorry." Danny said with a sigh, slightly worn out from his fight with Technus.

"It's not your fault; heck if you weren't there we would probably be even later." Sam said, happy that she was able to get in a few good throws towards Technus' evil projectors and therefore, helping Danny.

"Well here we are." Danny said, purposefully changing the subject seeing as they were at Tucker's. He phased them into the beret-wearing boy's room; they said their goodbyes and Danny flew towards the gated community where Sam lived. He was happy to have one less person to hold for his arms were growing tired.

"Thanks again for saving us." Sam said, looking up into Danny's face, her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Any time." He said with a smirk, trying to keep his growing weariness from escaping through his expression. Sam being the boy's best friend could tell that all the fighting had worn him out.

"Do you think something is going on? With the ghosts I mean?" She questioned, unsure of what the response may be.

"I do. We know ghosts can find their way into the human world, but it seems to be taking less and less time. It's like there's a shortcut that everyone's aware of, which is odd though because of the different ranks ghosts have. Both Skulker and the Box Ghost got free in the same day. Typically the stronger ghosts get back quicker because they're just that-stronger." The boy finished somewhat frustrated but, continuing to look forward as he flew with Sam in his arms.

She knew he had to have been thinking about this before now by the extent of his answer. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She asked.

He finally looked down at her. "Trip to the Ghost Zone?"

"You got it, but let's wait until tomorrow, I'm beat." He said as they began to see the familiar window of the marble mansion that belonged to Sam and her family.

They phased effortlessly through the wall, becoming tangible again when Danny set her down on her feet.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Danny said, beginning to turn to leave.

"Be careful." Sam said with sharpness that Danny did not expect. He turned back and looked at her for a moment.

"Always am." He said with his boyish grin as he disappeared and flew out of her room.

…

He was happy to be free of any extra weights, although just keeping his arms extended in front of him while flying was a struggle enough. Danny enjoyed the cool breeze that the darkened night sky offered him as he flew over the town just a few miles to his own abode. He didn't know why, but he always found peace when he flew. Maybe it was the literal freedom from things that usually held him down, tethered him. He scrunched his face slightly, trying to shake his line of thought, not wanting to sound ungrateful for his friends and family.

Just then a scream seemed to rip the stars themselves from the night sky.

"Great." Danny sighed, exhausted and frustrated at how close to his bed he had come before being interrupted.

"Help us!" It wasn't just one person's screams anymore. Danny swiftly turned around, heading in the direction of the yelling. It was just a few blocks from Fenton Works where he spotted maybe half a dozen people running from a general store and gas station. A soon as he got closer, he saw the familiar ghost, clothed in red leather, fish nets, and choppy green hair throwing huge shelves from side to side.

"Kitty." Danny breathed. He flew through the opening where a large window should have been. "What are you doing here? Don't you have a boyfriend to make dinner for?" Danny quipped, igniting his hands green as he slowly hovered just a few feet in front of Kitty.

"Where is it?!" She roared, barely noticing Danny Phantom was there at all. Taken aback with a slight frown, Danny lowered his raised hands and landed on the floor where he silently watched as Kitty destroyed the interior of the store.

"Um...what are you looking for?"

"Stop bothering me or I will call Johnny to come kick your butt!" She yelled, but continued throwing bags of food off shelves, not bothering to meet Danny's eyes.

Seeing that she was hardly paying any attention to him, Danny took out his Fenton Thermos and began to point it at Kitty when she finally looked back up at him.

Her eyes glowed red with fury. "It's all your fault, isn't it? You took it in the first place, it's your fault! You made him bring it here to this god forsaken world!" Her chest was heaving with each word.

Stunned for a moment, Danny opened his mouth to ask what the heck she was talking about, when she charged him. He side-stepped quickly, jumping up onto an overturned aisle display. "What are you rambling on about?!" He yelped, as he dove onto another overturned shelf, to evade Kitty's wrath.

This time it was his turn to counter. He jumped up to hover in the air, aalways seeing it as an advantage while fighting to be above the opponent. He concentrated on his hands, pulling energy almost effortlessly from his core to create disks of ecto-energy which he shot at Kitty. She dodged the first two but the third hit her square in the face. She instantly fell back letting out a scream of frustration.

"You're going to pay for singeing my favorite leather jacket!" She created ect oblasts herself. Seeing the attack that was about to happen, Danny quickly turned, planning on going behind a large mirrored shelf, but he wasn't quick enough.

"Aah!" He yelled out in pain as he was hit with a more powerful blast than he had expected Kitty to even make. As a reflex he immediately grabbed his shoulder, only making it sting more. Enough was enough. He turned aground and his eyes glowed an even brighter green. He shot relentlessly as Kitty tried to dodge them. There were so many blasts though that she couln't keep up ands got nailed with three blasts at once. She was sent flying back towards an overturned shelf. Taking the first chance he got, Danny opened the thermos and pointed it straight at Kitty.

She was slowly absorbed into the cylindrical prison as her screams became quieter and quieter. Danny was left standing completely alone in the middle of a store that looked like Vortex had ripped through.

A wave of exhaustion washed over him as he turned and began to fly back to his home. He was beat, not just physically but mentally. That conversation had left him with way more questions than what he had anticipated. _What was Kitty so steamed over? _Danny thought_. "And what in the world was she looking for that was so important?"_ Danny flew straight through his bedroom wall and morphed back into his regular self. He plopped onto his bed, his thoughts racing, yet he somehow managed to fall asleep as soon as he shut his eyes.

-**More to come :)**

***Once again, please, please, and please feel free to comment, review, ect. It just means so much to me that you have even read this far! Like I said, more to come!**


	3. Chapter 3: Sore

**Chapter 3**

He heard a knocking sound. Danny refused to open his eyes, knowing all too well how sore and tired he still would be if he got up.

_Knock, knock, knock_

"Danny, you're going to be late for school." He heard his sister call. However, he did not hear any footsteps which told him she was hovering. He turned over on his bed, letting a small gasp escape him. He then realized just how beat he was, literally.

Hearing this, Jazz opened the door slightly, "Danny?" She asked, not able to keep the concern out of her voice. As she saw him wince as he moved, she walked straight into his room. "Why are you still wearing your clothes? And what is that!" She exclaimed, seeing there was a large dark welt forming on his shoulder extending down onto his upper arm. As she looked closer he had several scratches and cuts, dark circles under his eyes, and one of the cuts was

"You're still bleeding!" Jazz said, a little louder than necessary. She quickly left the room and returned before Danny could even sit up, which caused a strike of pain to pulsate from his shoulder.

"Jazz, calm down. I'm fine." Danny said, trying to convince himself as much as his sister. She returned with a first-aid kit. He hadn't have time to tell her that he had a rather heavily-used first aid kit under his bed for use before she opened the one she had and rested the needed supplies on Danny's bed.

Everything was moving so fast and Danny was in a mild haze from still waking up. He snapped his half-closed eyes open when he felt a sting emanate from a cut on his wrist he knew he had gotten from Kitty. "You could be a little gentler, you know." He said through gritted teeth, looking straight up into Jazz's face.

"And you could be a lot more careful. Now talk." She continued to patch him up so to speak, cleaning out cuts with disinfectant and inspecting the deep purple welt on his shoulder.

Danny's first thought was to think of an excuse. He got up from his bed and rummaged through his drawers, looking for something to change into for the day and using it to stall so he could think of a lie. As far as he knew, Jazz knew nothing about how he was half ghost, or how he fought evil beings that would escape into their world, or about the accident that caused it all to happen. At this last thought he cringed, remembering still how it felt like each of his cells exploded one by one, the next causing more pain than the last.

Seeing him tense, Jazz pressed on more urgently.

"Talk." She said, putting her hands on her hip and staring straight into his eyes as he turned to face her. She couldn't help but frown slightly at what she saw. His typical sky blue orbs seemed to have dulled, like clouds covering a sky itself.

"I was out with Tucker yesterday." He started, still unsure about the direction his lie would take. "And uh…we were racing on our scooters down in the park. I..I didn't see a rock that had been in my path and I fell." He finished, pleadingly looking into his big sister's eyes, trying to will his sister to believe him. He didn't like keeping things from her, but it really was for her own good.

She took a moment to contemplate; she really could see just how much he wanted it to be the truth.

"Be more careful next time." She chided in a motherly tone. She left without saying another word. She knew if she had stayed she wouldn't be able to keep the truth from him, that she did in fact know that his lie was not the truth. And that more than anything, she wished he would be honest with her. Not just because she liked knowing what was always going on, but because she felt like she could really help him.

The door shut softly behind her. Danny was stunned but quickly recovered. He closed his half open mouth that was ready to explain more or tell his sister off for wanting to psychoanalyze him, but she had accepted it. There was a peculiar sensation that rose in his stomach. It felt like the first time he had turned intangible, like when you're a young child and you're caught with your pants down. Why didn't she offer some unsolicited advice about scootering? Or scold him for being so clumsy? He didn't have time to think about it further. He quickly got dressed and grabbed his backpack, every muscle in his body aching as he did so. He knew he was already late so he skipped breakfast and decided he would fly to school, it being quicker and hopefully less painful as walking or riding his bike.

…

He got to school and first period was almost completely over. He snuck into the back of his English class and sat down at the nearest open seat, trying to repress a sigh at how good it felt to sit down and stop moving. Mr. Lancer looked back from writing on the board only for a moment. Danny knew he that that look meant he would be having an unpleasant one-to-one chat after class. He looked over and saw both Sam and Tucker looking at him. He couldn't tell if their gazes were more curious or worried. Danny just mouthed, "Later."

As soon as he had gotten his yellow spiral notebook and pen out, the bell rang. He didn't even bother to get up and join the scurry that every school bell brought with it.

"Dude, oversleep?" Tucker asked, appearing in front of the halfa with his books already out away in his bag. Sam was eying him. Her gaze was definitely more concerned than curious. She saw the cut on his wrist and the minor scratches that seemed to cover his arms entirely.

"No, well yeah, but that's not the only thing that kept me. Last night I saw K—"

"Mr. Fenton, please come up here." Mr. Lancer beckoned to his desk at the front of the class.

"We'll talk with you after, okay?" Sam said. Her and Tucker promptly left, not wanting to get "the talk" from Mr. Lancer.

Danny slowly got up with his bag and walked up to where Mr. Lancer was sitting at his desk.

"Mr. Fenton, may I ask, for the fifth time this week, why you are again late?" The balding man asked sounding quite annoyed.

"I..uh." Danny started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Complete sentences will do." Mr. Lancer added.

"Well, I overslept." Danny stated, wanting to keep things as short and simple as possible.

The elder of the two took a moment to keep his glare on his student. "Detention, Mr. Fenton. Afterschool, today." He said as he pulled out the all too familiar red pad from his top drawer.

"No! I can't..I." He stopped abruptly remembering that having a trip planned for the ghost zone after school wouldn't be an acceptable excuse to miss detention. He wasn't sure what would be.

"No? Can't? You can Mr. Fenton, and you will be in detention today. I will see you at 3pm. Sharp." He added, knowing Danny's tendency for lateness. He handed over the detention slip that doubled as the boy's hall pass, seeing that the next bell had already tolled.

…

It wasn't until lunch that Danny had gotten even a chance to speak, let alone sit down and finally talk with Tucker and Sam. They met up at their usual table with their trays in hand. Danny hadn't even bother to grab more than a slice of pizza and a small carton of milk. He had too many things on his mind to even think about eating, let alone having to lift his sore arms to do so.

"Hey." Sam greeted as her and Tucker sat down with their trays.

"Hey."

"What'd Mr. Lancer say?"

"Detention." Danny said grumpily, looking down.

"What about—"

"I know, the Ghost Zone. You're going to want to go even more after what I have to say."

"Oh right, you had started to tell us something in English? And does that have something to do with how awful you look?" Sam asked, eyebrows raised as she took a bite out of her peanut butter sandwich.

"Actually it does, thank you," Danny started, leaning in closer as not to be overheard, "Last night after I dropped you guys off, I ran into Kitty down at the Gas-N-Sip."

"Johnny?" Tucker muffled, his cheeks puffed out from the amount of food in his mouth.

"No, he wasn't there. But she said some weird stuff. She was looking for something, and I don't mean her favorite candy bar. She tore the store apart, which is where I got these." He said, motioning down to the scratches on his arms. She..," He hesitated, but the look in his friends eyes told him to go on. "She said it was my entire fault. That whatever she was looking for was in Amity because of me.." He stopped, looking back up from his untouched pizza.

Both Sam and Tucker put whatever they were eating back on their plates.

"What was she looking for?" Tucker asked.

"What does this all have to do with Kitty of all ghosts, and you?" Sam asked.

Both his friends were staring straight at him. As if he would have the answers. As if he wasn't just as lost as they were. It was all just too much. More and more ghosts were escaping, he was failing the majority of his classes, his parents were hunting him every chance they got. He slammed his fists down on the table out of frustration. The looks on his friends' face made him close his glowing green eyes and turn his face away from them as if closing his eyes wasn't enough to know imagine their worried faces.

"Danny, dude, calm down. We'll figure this out. We always do." Tucker tried to reassure his friend.

"Yeah Danny, it's probably nothing. Kitty probably lost her favorite lipstick, or Johnny's leather jacket. This isn't your fault."

"I think it is, and I don't even know what I've done. I can't keep this up, guys. The ghosts, there's too many." He said, shoulders slouched in defeat. He began to paw at his left shoulder where he knew an ugly bruise was beating under his shirt.

"Stop." Sam interrupted him. She didn't want this train of thought to continue, for all of their sakes. Danny was more than just Danny Phantom to her, but if they didn't have Danny Phantom to protect them, they would all be doomed. "Look, while you're in detention, Tucker and I will make a list of what our priorities should be. Making a list will lay it all out for us, you'll see." She sent a glare Tucker's way to stop him from pouting.

"That's not all." The ghost boy added quietly.

"What else is there?" Tucker asked, not wanting to have more ghostly "homework".

"I think Jazz knows something.." He trailed off, not wanting to admit it to himself.

Tucker dropped his loaded roast beef sandwich onto his plate again. Sam's mouth dropped open as well.

"Danny," Sam started slowly, "What do you mean 'Jazz knows something'?"

"About me. Not necessarily Danny Phantom but something along those lines.." Panic began to fill his empty chest, quickly eating away at him. He pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes, hoping to relieve the pressure and tension that covered his body. It was to no avail though. Looking up into the crowded cafeteria didn't help. He stood up. He had to get out. He didn't know where out was but he needed to be somewhere other than here.

"Danny, wait, where are you going?" His friends asked in unison, alarmed. They got up and followed him, although Danny left so fast, they could hardly see where he went. They saw him ahead of them, opening the front doors of Casper High.

"Wait!" They called to him. As soon as they got outside they looked around, wanting, needing to see where their friend had gone to. It was Tucker who spotted him, leaning against a tree, his chest heaving, like he was worried each breath he took wouldn't be allowed past his lungs.

"Danny?" Sam asked in a small voice, putting a hand on his shoulder. As soon as she did so he winced and gasped in pain. She didn't understand what was going on.

"Hey, dude, look at this new game I got on my PDA, it's a little bit about Doom, but instead of robots there are zombies. Check it out." His friend said, offering his PDA to his best friend, trying to get him to calm down.

Sam saw he was trying to distract him so she jumped in. "Hey yeah, look at that, that sort of looks like the park by your house, doesn't it Danny?" She asked pointing onto the little screen.

Danny nodded, beginning to breathe at a slower rate. "I..I'm sorry…I didn't mean..to flinch." Sam knew this was pointed towards her, seeing as he nearly jumped out of his skin when she touched him.

"It's okay. Just breathe. It's my fault; I didn't know it would make things worse." She said, making sure not to touch him as much as she wanted to consoler her best friend with her soothing touch.

"Its..it's not that. Sam." He lifted his white and red shirt sleeve to reveal his darkened and injured shoulder. He was still trying to breathe right, his heart pounding in his ears. He was unsure if it was himself gasping or his friends at the sight of his shoulder.

It was the latter.

"Danny! Why didn't you say how bad it was?!" Sam scolded him, although worry quickly replaced her anger.

"I'm sorry. I was just trying not to think about it." He said as his breathing returned to normal as he slowly slid down the side of the tree so he could get into a more comfortable position.

"We're bringing you home." Tucker said, with the air of finality.

"I can't miss any more school. I can't miss detention." Danny sighed.

"This, is worth it." Sam said. Both her and Tucker held out a hand at the same time to Danny, to help him up. He couldn't help but smile when he looked up at them.

"Alright. Let's go home." Danny said, happy for once to lose a battle.

**To Be Continued**

***All the times in the past when I've written, I've had a specific outline, almost chapter by chapter. But now, I'm going one-hundred percent with the "flow" as they say. Hope you are enjoying this so far, there is plenty more to come. It would literally mean the world to me if you'd leave a comment. About anything in fact, but preferably about the story. Ha. Until next time.**


	4. Chapter 4: Well Deserved Rest

***Welcome back my little Halfas! I typically only write while at work (Don't worry I'm allowed to work on homework and well although it's not technically homework...it's still writing****J****) but I don't want to lose my inspiration over the weekend ya know! I did however plan this chapter out, or at least thought of the major things I wanted to happen. So here it is:**

**Chapter 4 **

When they had arrived back at Fenton Works, the trio managed to sneak upstairs to Danny's room without being noticed. Jazz was still at school and thankfully, Danny's parents were working noisily down in the lab.

The two best friends lowered Danny down gingerly onto his bed.

"Thanks again, guys." Danny said, looking tiredly up into his friends' faces, trying to ignore the aching pain from his shoulder.

"No problem. Why don't you get some sleep and we'll talk more later, okay?" Sam offered.

"Yeah Danny, get some sleep. There'll be time later to figure things out. Maybe we'll stop by Nasty Burger and get some food and talk it all out." Tucker chimed in.

"Yeah, okay. Sounds like a plan." Danny trailed off quietly, as he got under his blankets, not having enough energy to argue even if he wanted to. All he really wanted was to sleep, maybe through the night, maybe forever. Before he could decide he had already drifted off into sweet relaxing darkness.

He could tell it was evening by the slightly darkened state his room was in when he woke up. He opened his eyes first, not wanting to move in case it hurt too much. Two figures sitting across from him began to stand up. Slightly startled, Danny sat up quickly. "Wha—"He asked, blinking quickly, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"Hey, it's us. Its Tucker and Sam." Sam reassured him, walking over to the boy's bedside while Tucker just waved from Danny's desk, focused on the computer screen.

"Good Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Tucker said without turning around.

"Whater you guys still doing here?" The halfa sleepily slurred, swinging his legs out from under his covers and over the bed. "And what time is it?"

"It around four. Jazz got home about an hour ago and was wondering why you were weren't at school and home already, but don't worry, we covered for you." She added quickly, seeing the concerned face Danny had when he heard of Jazz wondering about him.

"What'd you tell her?"

"We told her you needed to come home quick to find an assignment due for last period and that we were helping you." Tucker chimed in, still not turning away from Danny's computer.

"And she believed that?" Danny asked eyebrows raised.

"Seemed to have. She's been in her room ever since with the door shut so she wouldn't have noticed us going back to hand in the 'assignment'. It was the best we could do when put on the spot." Sam huffed, taking a seat next to Danny on his bed.

"Well, thank you, again." Danny said, turning towards Sam and looking straight into her beautiful eyes. He took a hold of her hand because he felt words did not do his feeling of gratefulness justice.

They hadn't noticed that Tucker had finally turned around and was staring at them for several moments.

"Uh…yeah. Still here, still trying to figure out all this ghost business." He interrupted awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Hm." Danny cleared his throat, a rose blush rising to the surface of his cheeks. "What do you got Tuck?" Danny got up, without nearly as much pain in his shoulder than earlier he noticed. He walked over to his desk where Tucker was and looked at the screen of his computer. It showed several graphs and charts that he couldn't exactly make out.

"These," Tucker started to explain, seeing the confused look on his friend's face, "are compilations of the recent ghost attacks. Which ones are attacking, how often and if certain experience levels of ghosts have an impact on whether they attack more than others."

"And why can't you work this hard on homework?" Sam said, recovering from her mild embarrassment and coming up behind the boys at the computer.

"Because I don't need to do homework to survive, let alone Calculus." He replied coolly,,.

"Okay so what are the results?" Sam asked.

"Well it looks like Danny was right. There's been a 325% spike in ghost activities lately."

"You sure you don't need Calculus to survive?" Sam asked, unsure if such a percentage could be correct.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. But unfortunately that number is correct. Almost all ghosts we have files on have been attacking up to three times as often."

"But we still don't know why…" Danny added. They stood silent for a few moment until a thought came to Sam.

"What if it has something to do with Kitty?" The Goth girl thought out loud, her arms crossed with one hand resting on her chin.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked, straightening up.

"You said she was looking for something right? What if more and more ghosts are coming through because they're looking for something?" She said, becoming more and more excited with each word.

"Dude, that does actually make some sense." Tucker said, swirling around in Danny's desk chair to face his two friends.

Danny threw his hands in the air. "Ack! We answer one question only to wonder about another! If they're here looking for something, what are they looking for! And why is it so important that they're using their energy to regenerate faster?"

"Does that answer whether or not there are more portals than usual? It's more likely that the ghosts are coming back quicker even if it does weaken them than there being more portal openings occurring, right?" Tucker added.

"I think you're right Tuck." Danny said, starting to pace. "But we still don't know what everyone's looking for…" He trailed off, concentrating hard on the many questions he faced.

"Only one way to find out." Sam said with a grin.

"Ghost Zone." Both the boys said.

"As long as I get some dinner first. And if we're going for longer than an hour, I'm gonna need to bring some snacks."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Really, an hour?"

"Hey, it's not my fault my stomach demands to be paid attention to, with _real _food." He added.

Knowing how Sam would start up about how eating meat was wrong, Danny jumped in. "Okay, okay. You guys go home, let your parents at least see you today, grab some dinner, "He added for Tucker's sake, "and meet back at my place. How does 8 o'clock work?" He asked, looking from Tucker to Sam.

They both nodded in approval. As they left his room he heard Sam talking about the innocent animals that were slaughtered yearly just so people like Tucker could get his fill.

Danny affectionately rolled his eyes, thinking how cool it was to have a friend who stuck up for her beliefs, no matter what. He knew he had to gather a few things before their trip into the Ghost Zone. He worked his way passed his parents in the kitchen and down to the lab.

He knew how unexpected the ghost zone could be, but he was not prepared for what was laid ahead of him tonight.

***Hello Hello! I had more planned for this chapter but it's late and I would like to sleep. This is definitely a chapter-before-a-mini-climax-in-a-story-chapter, if you know what I mean. More to come, if not Sunday 4/12 then Monday when I get back to work. Until next time my lovelies!**


	5. Chapter 5: Ready To Go

**Chapter 5**

It wasn't until around 8:30p that night that they were all assembled and ready to enter the Ghost Zone.

"So what are our main objectives here, guys." Sam asked, leaning against the Spector Speeder.

"Figuring out what all the ghosts are looking for." Danny said, as two white rings appeared around his waist, changing him from Fenton to Phantom.

"And, if possible, figure out why, whatever it is, is so important." Tucker added, heaving his bag of leftovers from dinner into the Speeder, just in case.

"Tucker, do you really need to bring all those innocent chopped up cow bits with us?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Yes, I do. Who knows what's going to happen in there and I for one do not want to be left hungry!"

"Of all things." Sam muttered under her breath and rolling her eyes.

"Are we ready to go?" Danny asked, opening the Ghost portal.

"Yeah, let's hit it." Sam said, refocusing on the mission ahead of them. Convincing Tucker how wrong being a carnivore is will have to wait until later. The two humans got into the Spector Speeder, buckled up and shit the door. Danny looked back at them and gave them a thumbs up, anticipating one in return.

With Sam's hands on the controls, Tucker gave his ghostly friend a thumbs up, all systems go.

Danny lead the trio through the portal. Entering the portal always gave off a tingling feeling, just like being in the Ghost Zone itself brought with it. Danny knew the energy here was different than in Amity. It was almost alluring to him, or his ghost half at least. He wasn't sure if the others felt it, he had never thought to ask.

He double-checked behind him to make sure his best friends had passed through the portal smoothly. There they were smiling back at him.

"Let's start heading this way." Danny pointed towards the direction he was most familiar with, although he didn't exactly feel entirely comfortable with his knowledge of the zone's geography.

"Whatever you say." Tucker said through the Speeder's outside communicator. Just then a beeping noise came from the ghost radar that the Speeder was also equipped with.

"Incoming Danny. Looks like there's a ghost heading our way from the right.

"Understood." Danny flew out a little further in front of his friends to get a better view. There were a lot of small islands hovering around where they were it was difficult to see too far beyond them. Just then a blast came from what seemed like no where at hit Danny on his right flank.

"Danny!" Both his friends yelled. However, their past experiences lead them to back up and try to locate the source of the enemy fire, instead of zooming closer to him.

"Ack! Who's there?" Danny said, regaining himself. "Show up you coward." He harassed. His hands began to glow, readying themselves to fire.

Just then another blast came from a different direction. Because it came from behind the boy, he hadn't noticed until it was too late. He was sent flying forward, almost hitting a hovering rock form. The pain stung, but he knew he had to shove it to the back of his mind.

He clicked his ear piece that was tied with the Spector Speeder. "You guys see anything? I'm having no luck!" The halfa cried out.

"We can't locate the entity but we do know that it's only one." He heard Tucker say after a quick frizzy noise.

"Okay, keep looking. Thanks." Danny recomposed himself, his hands ablaze with a ghostly green light. This time he formed balls of ectoenergy that rested in his hands. He calmed himself, trying to listen for any sound that may give the ghost away.

Several moments had passed and he had seen and heard nothing. He re-absorbed the energy he had put into hands and clicked his communicator in his ear. "That was weird, huh?"

"Yeah. We're all good here. Nothing's left on the radar." Sam said. "Where you at?"

Danny took a second to look around. "Uh, do you see an island with a decaying willow tree on it?"

It took a moment before he got a reply. "Got it, we'll be right over."

It only took a few minutes for him to see his friends hovering towards him, dodging floating islands left and right.

"You okay?" Tucker asked, his hands on the steering controls now.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The blasts were more annoying than harmful, ya know?" He said rhetorically.

"Did you see who the blasts were coming from?"

"No, I didn't. I don't know why they wouldn't just show themselves either. Oh well. Let's get going, this area is sort of creepy." Danny added, looking around at the decayed and soot scarred plants.

They hovered past a few areas they had investigated before and made sure to stay away from the even more potentially dangerous areas, like Walker's prison and even Plasmius' portal. When Plasmius came to mind Danny's concentrated resolve broke for a moment. His usual response was to swell with anger at his enemy's name but this time it was something else that filled him. What if he knew what was going on? Danny thought. Although he hated Vlad Masters with every ounce of his being, he also knew that he was the only other half ghost half human hybrid, besides his half clone Dani. He would never admit it to anyone, but Danny knew that that in itself created an unspoken bond between them.

"Hey Danny, what do you think about going to Skulker's lair?" Sam suggested, breaking Danny's train of thought.

"Wait, come again?" He asked, taken aback by the thought of it.

"Well. He is a hunter, or so he likes to believe. Maybe he's hunting whatever it is that everyone's looking for?" She said, unsure of herself when she received a shocked look from Tucker. "Hey. It's just a suggestion. Unless one of you have a better idea."

"I guess she's right, Danny. We're not really finding too much out here."Tucker added after thinking about it for a moment.

"If you guys are up for it, I guess it's our best option right now." Unless we went to Vlad's. Danny thought to himself, unsure of why his arch-enemy was coming to mind. He was sure though that by willing going to Skulker they were putting themselves at risk and he knew he'd have to be even more focused to keep his friends safe.

It took a bit of back-tracking and some shortcuts but they managed to get to the edge of Skulker's island relatively quick. They stopped at an entrance to a large cave, where Danny knew from personal experience was where Skulker lived, or rather existed. Danny went over to a flyer attached to the cave wall. It was blowing in the breeze that came from the forest that surrounded Skulker's cave.

"Home of the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter." Danny read out loud. "'If you leave now, I'll give you an hours head start before skinning your pelt and hanging it on my wall.' How kind." Danny added. "Are you guys sure?" He asked one last time before it really was too late to turn back.

"Yes!" Both his friends said together.

"Alright, let's go." Danny lit the cave up by flowing energy from his ghost core into his hand to create a ghostly light.

They didn't have to travel very far before they got to the heart of Skulker's home. He had every kind of creature imaginable hanging on his cave walls. They could hear rattling coming from even deeper in the cave. Danny cringed, thinking of the cages that he knew creatures were certainly locked in.

"He doesn't seem to be home." Tucker said, referring to the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter.

"We'll count that as our good luck for the day." Danny muttered, not feeling at all comfortable in his surroundings.

"Uh Danny!" Sam called urgently.

"What is it?" He asked flying over to where his friends were, a gnawing feeling entering his stomach. He stopped mid-step.

"Well uh, this explains at least one thing." Tucker laughed awkwardly, trying to make the situation better.

Danny picked up the stack of papers, reading the one on top. "WANTED" was printed in bold letters at the top. "$1,000,000 GB in Return for the Following: 1. Clockwork's Time Staff, 2. Information on Ghost Boy Danny Phantom."

"Uh, why don't we take this and get out of here." Tucker suggested, wanting to figure things out in a safer environment.

"Oh. You won't be getting out of here, ever." A grizzly voice called from behind them.

The trio nearly jumped out of their skins, looking behind them.

"Skulker." They said in unison.

***Okay, so I thought this chapter was going to be a climatic point but turns out the next one will be, promise! I do enjoy a good cliffhanger. And it's even better when you don't have to wait more than a day or two to resolve it. Until next time my lovely Halfas!**


	6. Chapter 6: Ghost Zone

***Hello! I hate to leave you guys hanging so I thought I would get a head start on this upcoming chapter. Hope you enjoy and I would absolutely love to hear some reviews, of any kind! Without further ado, here is:**

**Chapter 6**

"It's not much of a hunt if your prey comes to you." Skulker said, both his arms with cannons on them, pointing one at Danny and the other at the Spector Speeder where his friends were located.

Although he was shaken by Skulker's abrupt appearance, Danny kept their mission in mind. "What is this Skulker?" He demanded, lifting the flier to show the hunter.

"I thought you of all people would know by now whelp. You're the one this all has to do with." Skulker said, inching forward, his eyes locked on Danny's.

"Why. Does. Everyone. Keep. Saying. That?!" Danny said through gritted teeth, anger starting to rise within him. Without his knowing his hands began to glow green. "Tell me right now."

"You are in no position to be demanding such thing from me ghost boy." Skulker reminded him, slightly shaking his left arm to put emphasis on the glowing cannon pointed at him.

Without another word, Danny dove straight at Skulker. The unexpected first move of his prey threw Skulker off balance. Danny retreated and starting making a wide loop in the air above Skulker to come back for another attack. While doing so, Sam and Tucker activated the ghost shield on the Speeder and mobilized its ecto-rays.

"You see, runt, the best part of all of this, is that I get both the money, and your pelt once I get some much needed information from you." Skulker said, standing up out of the pile of wood that was his desk.

"I'm getting my money one way or another. The flier said nothing about having to keep you alive to get the needed information." Skulker quickly fired two blasts that were larger than normal, at the ceiling where Danny had been. Missing him just by an inch, Danny fired three blasts of his own right at Skulker.

"Nice try whelp." Skulker turned intangible but not for long enough. Danny's blasts were accompanied closely by the Speeder's powerful rays. "Ack!" Skulker screamed, crashing into a huge cabinet that crumbled against him.

"Great one guys." Danny said, putting up a thumbs up towards the Speeder. "Ahh! Ah!" Danny suddenly cried out, grabbing his chest and falling to the floor.

"Danny!" His two best friends cried out from within the Spector Speeder that was currently hovering in the opposite corner of the large room.

"What's wrong?" Tucker yelled out, wanting to grab his friend, but unable to leave the floating vehicle due to potentially harmful exposure.

As Danny's friends neared him, they saw how he was thrashing about, his eyes squeezed shut in what must have been terrible pain.

"Danny! Listen to us, what is wrong?" Sam asked urgently now.

"It's…my core. It feels like…its burning." Danny struggled to say, taking shallow breaths in between words. It made no sense, they all knew that. Danny's ghost core was ice based, not fire. They had learned that little tidbit from a certain arch-nemesis a year back. Vlad Masters, a.k.a. Vlad Plasmius, had the idea of cloning Danny Phantom, but before doing so he had needed to do plenty of research to be sure he could do so correctly. When he had his "little badger" under wraps he had mentioned to him how ghosts have certain cores, Danny's being cool and his being warm. These cores affected the powers that would eventually develop for them both.

"Get…out." Danny said, his voice slightly muffled by the cracking of wood that came from Skulker regaining himself. He knew it was only a matter of time before Skulker was back up and swinging, and not just at him but his friends.

"We're not leaving you." Sam said, as she worked frantically over the controls seeing if there was something that could be done. Just then a blast came from Skulker's direction and hit the left side of the Spector Speeder's ghost shield. It caused the entire vehicle to sway violently away from Danny and it struck one of Skulker's trophy shelves.

Danny knew Skulker was worn down, but not done yet. Danny thrust himself to his knees, ignoring the best he could the crippling pain that seemed to pass through each fiber of his being. Even though Plasmius was far more advanced in his ghost powers than Danny, the younger hybrid had learned at least one important thing from his enemy: Danny's powers were his own. And he alone could control them.

"Stay. Away. From. My. Friends!" Danny cried out as he gathered all the energy within himself and forced if from every pore of his body in the direction of Skulker. There was such a blinding light that both Danny and his friends had thought the end was here. But the incredible whiteness that had covered every molecule of the room was beginning to subside. Tucker and Sam stared intently out the window of the vehicle that was now safely parked on the ground, the ghost shield down.

Just a few feet away they saw Danny, lying on the cold floor of the cave face down, eyes shut and mouth slightly open. Sam continued to watch her best friend for movement as Tucker looked around for Skulker who was nowhere to be found. As he looked around, he saw that almost everything in the room was reduced to rubble or shapeless forms that didn't nearly resemble whatever the object used to be.

Trying to think clearly, Sam suggested, "Use the Speeder's claws to grab Danny. We need to get him out of here!" She couldn't help but keep the panic from her voice. Her best friend was lying unconscious just feet away, yet she couldn't run and help him, not until they were out of the ghost zone.

"Okay, I think I got him." Tucker said, his tongue slightly sticking out of his mouth in concentration as he maneuvered the Speeder's hand-like claws to gently grab a hold of Danny, who was still lying limp.

"Let's get out of here then." Sam said, with an edge not just in her voice but posture. They trio began to quickly zoom in the direction that would get them back to Fenton Works the quickest. They had to be mindful of Danny, seeing as he was held slightly under the Speeder and there were many objects and obstacles to float over.

"This isn't good." Sam felt like she could no longer keep her concern within her.

"It's going to be okay. It has to be. Danny will be fine, we've seen him like this before and he's always recovered." Tucker said, speaking so fast out of nervousness that his words almost meshed together.

"We've seen him revert back to his human form before but whatever happened back there has never happened before." She cringed slightly at the thought of what had happened. She was so unsure about everything, but one thing she did know was that trouble never seemed to stop following them.

"Sam?" Tucker asked, his voice getting higher towards the end of her name. "I'm trying to focus on where we're going, but what is that flashing on the radar?"

"No!" There were incoming dots on the radar but they couldn't put the ghost shield back up because Danny was still in ghost form. "We're going to have to out-run them or out beat them." Sam said, trying to muster up enough emotional strength to face the next obstacle.

"I'll go as fast as I can and we'll take it from there." Tucker said, pressing on the gas as far down as the pedal allowed.

Just then a blast of energy hit the vehicle square on its left flank, or on Sam's side. Because the three were traveling so fast, the blast knocked them off course at a speed that was nowhere near comfortable. They were traveling in a part of the ghost zone they didn't have much experience with either. The area was filled with empty door frames, in every direction.

The speeder slammed sideways into a floating island. The steel somehow managed to hold up under the pressure the impact had caused.

"You okay Sam?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Can we please get out of here?"

"I'm working on it!"

They managed to straighten themselves out and regain speed. Another blast came at them, this time it glowed green and sent the Speeder spinning. Sam and Tucker were disorientated for a moment longer than last time, which is all it took for them to slam into a group of doorways. This time, the floating vehicle didn't get off scratch free. The nose of the Speeder had in fact crumpled under the force of impact. The two teenagers also noticed that the 'claws' holding Danny had released him.

"No!" Sam screamed, holding her head to keep it from, what felt like, falling off.

"No! We don't have many options here!" Tucker called out in frustration, as the engine roared louder than ever.

Three globs of ghostly energy crept even closer to the Speeder as it tried to dive down to get Danny. The two friends were surrounded, forced to stay where they were. Tucker looked out the window to check on Danny and found him floating effortlessly and peacefully just a few meters below.

"What do you want, uglies?" Tucker yelled out over the Fenton Speaker.

The three blobs grabbed ahold of the Speeder, one in front, and one each on the left and right side.

"They're pushing us?" Sam noted, unsure of what the lowly ghosts wanted from them.

"Uh oh." Tucker said, looking straight ahead of them, his mouth half dropped open.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sam asked, looking at a set of open doors that looked particularly interesting.

"It's a portal." Tucker said with a knowing confidence.

"We have to get out of here Tucker!"

"There's literally nothing we can do."

"What about Danny!?" Tucker had never seen Sam so close to breaking down before.

"Hopefully he'll be fine. I think in this case we should maybe worry more about those of us without ghost powers!" Tucker said, beginning to worry as they were inching closer and closer towards the glimmer that seemed suspended in between the two doors.

"Here we go!" Sam cried over the roaring engine, the booming of the portal and the buzzing of the ghosts encasing them.

One moment they were in the Ghost Zone, and the next they weren't.

***Ah! More to come I promise. I wanted this to be a mini climax and hopefully it succeeded! I had more planned for this chapter but it's late and believe it or not I have a few things to accomplish before I finally get some sleep. So I will leave it here, with a slight cliff hanger, but plenty more to come like I said. Hope you enjoyed, if so feel free to review! Until next time my little Phans!**


	7. Chapter 7: Split Up

***Hello my lovelies! Welcome back! I would love to thank you all for continuing on even this far! Although it usually takes less time to read a story than to write it, I appreciate your time tenfold! I can't wait for us all to continue on this journey! And I would like to thank **MercurialDestiny **and **Matt** for taking the time to review! Even one sentence inspires me to go on!**

**Chapter 7**

He slowly opened his eyes to see the all too familiar green and purple glows of the Ghost Zone. "Ah! What?" Danny yelled in surprise, straightening himself out. He looked down at himself, "Still in ghost form. No damage too horrific." He thought to himself as he stretched out his arms and wiggled his toes.

"What in the world happened?" He noticed how tired he was but his silent panic was more pronounced at the moment. He tried remembering, and it all came back to him in flashes as he held his head. The flier, Skulker, fighting, Clockwork, something about Clockwork, Sam and Tucker. Sam and Tucker!

He looked around, almost shaking at the memory of them, and even worse, that they weren't in sight! Refocusing on what was around him, he quickly flew around several floating islands and doorways.

"Tucker!" He called. "Sam! Where are you!" He didn't know what to do. The last thing he remembered was something about Skulker, maybe he got hit with one too many ectoblasts and that's why he couldn't remember. But how did he end up here? It wasn't making sense. He could feel the familiar gnawing sensation in his stomach. Something was not right.

Without even thinking, he made it his mission to search as much of the Ghost Zone as possible, for as long as possible. Turns out though that that was not for very long. He was absolutely drained. His initial panic had slowly seeped back into exhaustion. He wasn't giving up, he was adamant of that. But maybe Sam and Tucker were already back home, or were looking for him! "Why didn't I think of that? Stupid!" He berated himself.

He flew back to the Fenton Portal a little faster than he had the energy to do so. He was so happy to almost be home that just the sight of the familiar steel doors made him feel lighter with joy. He pressed his hand on the cool doors and they opened at his touch. He quickly flew in, feeling the vibrations of the portal wash over him and then quickly disappear.

As soon as he saw the sterile lab with gadgets strewn about, he morphed back into his human self. He ran up the stairs, each step feeling heavier than the last. He ran to his room, throwing the door open. "Tucker? Sam?" He even though he could see his room in its entirety he, he still ran around on each side of his bed looking for his friends.

_"What now?"_ He thought. "_Maybe Jazz had seen them_?"

He quickly ran down the small hallway to Jazz's room, rushing into it without even knocking. "Danny! What are you doing?" He saw that her little brother was practically out of breath. "What's wrong?" She immediately said, going from annoyed to concern in three seconds flat.

"Have..have you seen Sam or Tucker?" He asked, catching his breath.

"No I haven't, why?" Her eyes burrowed into Danny's; as if her next breath was determined by the words he would respond with.

"I just… I just haven't seen them and they were supposed to come over to do some homework. I'll go check their houses." Danny said as he exited, before Jazz could even say a word.

"This can't be good." She huffed as she sat back down at her desk, scribbling in her journal.

Danny ran back into his room ready to morph back into Phantom so that he could check Sam and Tucker's house. "I'm going ghost!" Nothing happened. "I said, I'm going ghost!" He said again, a bit more impatiently. Nothing happened.

"This is not good." He said with a sigh.

"Are…are you okay?" Tucker asked, holding his head gingerly.

"Ugh. Next time, I'm driving." Tucker heard Sam say.

"Where are we?" The windshield that surrounded them was shattered yet still intact, which made it very difficult to see out. They knew they were on a slope of some sort because their seat belts were the only thing holding them from falling forward.

"Why don't we go out the back exit?"

"Okay just be careful unbuckling yourself." They unbuckled their safety straps at the same time. Sam caught herself on the dash board but Tucker belly flopped on to the windshield.

"Graceful." Sam snorted.

"Whatever!" Tucker just huffed. "Let's get out of here." He crawled his way to the back of the Spector Speeder. He pressed the large red button and the door burst off. The teenagers were immediately hit with the unwelcomed visit of icy air.

"Great job Tuck. The doors gone and we're going to freeze to death." Sam said, throwing her hands in the air.

"There's thermojackets in the bottom cabinet, why don't you grab us some instead of complaining."

He heard her scoff and was quickly met with a shove. "Here." She said, pushing the bright orange jacket lined with fur at Tucker.

After they put the knee length jackets on, they decided that it'd be better to look around then to stay in place. Either way the outcome looked grim.

"Alright, I found some backpacks in another cabinet, we should try to fill them strategically so we're not weighed down but that we also have what we might need." Sam said, her survival skills that she had gained from ghost fighting for two years kicking in.

"Right." They began to rummage through the different compartments of the bent Spector Speeder. Sam brought mostly weapons and extra clothing and Tucker focused on tools and supplies. He made sure he grabbed his bag of leftover meat before hopping out the door.

As they landed, they both slid slightly when their boots touched the snowy slope that they were on. They tried to gather their surroundings but all they saw was whiteness covered in white. The air had a chill to it but because there wasn't wind it was still bearable.

"So, should we head towards that slope, that slope or that slope." Tucker asked, pointing each direction where it looked like the same exact scenery was surrounding them.

"Umm." Sam thought for a moment. "We should go in the direction where we won't hit a slope for the farthest distance. As soon as we go over a slope we'll lose sight of the Speeder and I would prefer not to do that."

"I agree. Besides, I'm not really into the whole 'climbing' thing." They started walking in a direction they could only hope would bring them good luck.

Danny had seriously started to freak out. He tried everything he could to morph back into Danny Phantom. But nothing worked. The white rings would appear around his waist and then just sizzle and disappear. The furthest he had managed to morph was just enough so that a silver belt appeared. That had only lasted a moment though, and Danny had turned blue in the face to make it happen.

He needed to find Sam and Tucker. If they got separated in the ghost zone it didn't mean anything good. His stomach churned in anxiety. He started pacing back and forth in his room. The world seemed to close in on itself now that Danny could fly or turn intangible.

His worry was interrupted by a knock at his door.

"Danny?" His sister cooed. "May I come in?"

"Fine." He said, not being able to think of anything else to say.

She opened his door and slowly walked in. Jazz could see that Danny was pale, more so than usual. He had a glistening layer of sweat that covered his skin. His white t-shirt had turned slightly transparent with his perspiration.

"Danny, I know something's wrong. What is it?" For some reason her words cut right through his anxiety. He was being both comforted and scolded at the same time. He attributed it to his sister's knowledge of psychology.

"I…just a lot of things are going on. School isn't going the greatest and Sam and Tucker…" The boy trailed off, mumbling under his breath almost as if he had forgotten that Jazz was there.

"Danny! Snap out of it. Focus. Maybe I can help you." She stepped right in front of him now to keep him from pacing.

"No you can't. No one can. Only Sam and Tucker can but they're not here. I need to find them." Danny was talking fast, he felt like every second talking and explaining and thinking was a second that Sam and Tucker were stuck alone in the Ghost Zone. He turned and began pacing in the opposite direction.

"Danny, I know." Jazz said.

"No, you don't understand I…"

"No, Danny, _I know_." Her demeanor had changed altogether. She went from worried to authoritative without him even realizing it. She was met with the confused face of her little brother. He was just a child, they both were really, it wasn't fair that he was burdened so much by being half a ghost.

When Danny didn't say anything, she pressed on. "I know your Danny Phantom. I've known for awhile now, and I think you have too, maybe not exactly but subconsciously. I have so many questions, as I'm sure you do as well." Danny opened his mouth but she knew she needed to keep talking. "But, I think right now we need to focus on Sam and Tucker. What happened?"

His thoughts were racing even more so than before, if that was even possible. He started to feel dizzy so he sat down at the foot of his bed. He couldn't form a complete thought, let alone a sentence to answer Jazz.

Jazz noticed that Danny was struggling, his breaths were short and fast and he had put his hand on his chest over his heart, probably without even realizing it. "Look, you don't have to go into great depth, just say anything." She tried to encourage him.

Danny did his best to slow his breathing, which helped his thoughts return to normal speed as well. "We got separated in the Ghost Zone."

Jazz immediately felt a chill run down her neck. "_So_," She thought, "_They've been going into the Ghost Zone."_ "Let's go find them, then." She didn't know where her courage had come from but she knew that if they didn't go quickly that it would probably dissolve.

"I tried that, I've spent hours looking for them. But… that's not our only problem."

She waited for him to elaborate but he didn't on his own. "What's the problem, Danny?"

"I can't morph, err change into Danny Phantom." He elaborated, unsure how much Jazz knew. _Jazz knew._ _He would have to sort out those thoughts later._

"Why not?" Jazz asked, alarmed.

"I wish I knew. It might actually be because I have no energy left, mental or physical." He sighed.

"Okay. Lay down," She said, pushing his brother back onto his bed by his shoulders and speaking before Danny could resist, "and I'll figure out what to do next okay. Besides, you know Mom has always been right when she says that sleep cures almost every ailment."

It did feel good to lay down Danny noticed. "But a ghostly ailment?" He asked. "I don't…think so." He said as he started to close his eyes almost instantly.

"All right little brother, whatever you say." Jazz cooed, throwing a cover over her brother who she sworn was already asleep.

Jazz closed the door behind her after taking one last look of her sleeping brother. He seemed so sweet, so innocent when he was asleep. But now more than ever Jazz knew that his innocence was ripped from him the moment he became Danny Phantom.

***Ahh! Jazz knows! And Danny knows she knows! And where are Sam and Tucker! You'll find out! Work has been cray cray so I haven't had barely any time to write so I made sure I'm putting this chapter up this week! Until next time! **


	8. Chapter 8: There & Back

***Hello! Firstly, this has been the longest I haven't written or updated! Sorry! I've had a busy week/end and I actually got pretty caught up in reading some wonderful Teen Titan fics haha. However, I caught up to the time when they're being updated so boo. Anyways here we are, more importantly, here you are! Yay! Thank you and without further ado…**

**Chapter 8**

"I'm sstartting to gget cold." Tucker complained, his teeth chattering just enough to distort his words slightly.

"Mme too." Sam agreed, her arms held across her chest tightly, trying to retain the little heat she had left.

They were still making their way slowly through the snow when after what felt like hours had passed, they saw something.

"Is is that who I think it is?" Tucker asked, pointing dead ahead of them.

"No wway. What aree the chances!" Sam exclaimed, almost warming slightly at being so excited.

Walking towards them was a large familiar beast with one arm made of ice. Two figures were on either side of him but were yet to be made out.

"Frostbite!" The two teens exploded, running forward as fast as their numb legs would allow.

"Samantha, Tucker." Frostbite greeted. "Whatever are you two doing here?" His voice boomed proudly, seemingly reaching the corners of the wide plain they were on.

"We were brought here!" Sam managed to say, doing her best to keep herself from violently shivering.

"By whom? Wait, you two must be freezing! You are human, yes?"

"Yes!" They both cried out, trying to stand in the right spot so that Frostbite and the four other beasts would shield the wind from them.

Frostbite now addressed the two fellow yetis on his left. "Lance, Yetzel, head back to camp. Prepare for visitors, human visitors, who will need a fire and nourishment." Without a word the two nodded and began to walk back. "Frank, pick up Sam and bring her back, and Igor you take Tucker."

Before either of the two humans could protest they were scooped up into the warm creatures' arms. Turns out ice monsters can actually be very warm. The two teenagers let that warmth slowly wash over them, extending to what felt like every nerve and fiber within them. They were carried back, without protest, to a collection of caves cut into the side of one of the slopes. Off to the far right was what seemed to be an attempted fire. There was a good amount of leafy Lichens balled up with wisps of smoke escaping from it, a slight glow in the center. They really couldn't blame Lance; the only shrubbery that grew in such a place was bound not to make great kindling.

Frank and Igor gently put teens next to the…fire.

"I must ask now, how did you arrive here? And where is our half ghost, Danny?" Sam noticed his tone dropped lower as soon as he spoke Danny's name.

"We were dragged here through a ghost portal! Or rather pushed." Tucker piped up.

"We got separated from Danny." Sam said, her voice somber.

Frostbite's eyebrows peaked. "I see. So you are alone." There was an eerie silence before Tucker spoke up, not evening realizing the tension.

"Not completely alone, we found you!"

"Rather, we found you." Frostbite laughed, lifting the stiffness from the air.

"So, you can help us get back right? We need to find Danny, make sure he's alright." Sam piped up.

"Would you not feel it in your bones if he was not?"

A light shade of pink formed at the surface of Sam's cheeks.

Tucker, starting to warm just ever so slightly, picked the conversation up. "So…can you help us get out of here? The only other time we were here we were able to get the Spector Speeder to work. Wait! Do you think you could fix it up again?"

Frostbite took a moment to answer. Tucker could almost see the calculations he was doing in his thoughts. "Why, yes, we will certainly do our best! Suzanne! Cromwell! Please gather your tools and trek out to the Speeder. See what you can do for it, yes?"

The two yetis behind the teenagers got up and walked into one of the caves out of sight.

"As for you two, you must be terribly hungry after such excitement. How about some crawfish spleens, hmm?"

When Danny opened his eyes from his nap the first thought he had was Danny Phantom. Without even sitting up he concentrated to transform. Two white rings appeared around his waist extending out to the top of his head and the tips of his toes. He could have cried with relief if it hadn't have been so easily extinguished by his next thought. "_Tucker, Sam!"_

Danny flew out of his room and down to Jazz's. _"Oh no! Jazz knows!" _He remembered the moment after he knocked on his elder sister's door.

"Danny? If that's you come in." He heard her muffled voice say from within.

"Jazz? We need to go. We have to find them." He said, almost flying right past her and out the open window.

"I know I know calm down. I've been working on a plan. Oh. I see our latest problem has been solved." She said when she finally looked up from a piece of paper to see Danny floating next to her.

"But our initial one still remains! I'm heading back into the Zone."

"Not without me, you're not." Jazz stood up and led the way to the basement.

"Uh, you want to run that by me again?"

"I'm going with."

"Jazz, have you ever even been in the Ghost Zone?"

Her step faltered slightly at that, but she continued down the stairs.

"That's not the point. The point is that I'm here to help, I'm willing and I'm able which means I am going to."

He didn't have time to argue he just needed whatever they were going to do to happen fast.

"The Speeder is gone, how exactly do you think you're going to travel?"

"With this." She said, after rummaging in a drawer. She pulled out the Fenton Peeler, clicked the top trigger and it instantly sheathed her skin in armor, leaving her facemask off for the moment.

"_It would be pretty helpful to have another set of eyes…"_ He thought. "No. Its too dangerous. I…I can't risk losing you too."

The corners of Jazz's lips curled up. "Oh little brother. Haven't you learned by now I'll never stop bugging you! Now let's go before we lose even more time." She clicked her face mask into place and began walking towards the portal. "Uh…why don't you lead the way?" She added nervously.

"Hold on to me while we pass through." Danny said, calming down at his sister's nervousness.

…

It was a whole new world to Jazz, literally. At first it took her awhile to adjust to the unfamiliar surroundings and the Fenton Peeler suit, but she eventually got a slight control over things. They were able to find the spot where Danny had woken up, Jazz looking horrified when he told her what he could remember.

They continued on from that point, expanding the search area in a large circle. All of a sudden a blast flew past Danny just inches from his face. He immediately whirled around, his hands instinctively glowing bright with ecto-energy.

"What was that?" Jazz called as she zoomed over to him.

"Get behind me." He said, knowing that they were in ghostly territory now, not just fighting the box ghost at the post office.

She obeyed him and quickly got behind her little brother, searching in all of eyesight for what had created the blast, when she noticed something scurry behind a floating door in the far distance. "There!" She pointed so Danny could see.

"I don't see anything."

"It's there. Something just went behind that door."

"Let's check it out then. So we can get this over with!" He added loudly to provoke whatever ghost may appear to do so already. The sooner they got rid of this nuisance the closer they'd be to finding—

Another blast flew right at Danny, only missing him because Jazz pushed him out of the way. Although they were saved from the blast they collided with a floating window, smashing threw it, the ghostly glass shattering around them.

"Graceful." Danny muttered, wiping the broken glass off his arms.

"Hey! I didn't see you coming up with anything!" Jazz retorted, unaffected by the breaking glass due to her metal armor. Danny had little time to regain himself when two more blasts came his way.

"Ugh! We don't have time for this!"

"I'll go around, you distract him." And with that Jazz quickly started making her way towards the silent ghost, making sure to hide behind any object she could along the way.

"Over here ghoul!" Danny called out, trying to taunt the ghost out of hiding. And apparently the ghost wasn't too brilliant, because it seemed to work. "That wasn't so hard was it?" Danny goaded as a rather small blobby ghost came out from around a set of French doors.

The shapeless ghost immediately darted right at Danny, avoiding all the blasts the young halfa sent his way. "Okay," Danny said slightly out of breath. "So you're a little guy with a big heart is that it?"

Blasts were shot in returned at Danny. He started flying in between the doors and windows to use them as shields. When a few blasts came a little too close for comfort Danny immediately began flying the opposite way. The smaller of the two ghosts changed the direction of his shooting just as quickly. A rather large blast was just about to hit Danny when he turned and saw that Jazz was sucking the ghost into the Fenton Thermos.

"Saved you again little brother." She said proudly, putting the cap on the handy device.

"Yeah, yeah." He said playfully rolling his eyes. He really was thankful she finally knew about him. It was as though a small weight was untied from his being, and it felt like he was lighter in some way.

"Danny?" Jazz asked, her low tone pulling him out of his happiness. "We…we've been looking for a while now… Do you think maybe we should head back home? Just for a little while!" She added quickly, seeing the awestruck and distraught look on his face.

Danny took a moment to think his options through. He had been ignoring his stomach's growls for a while now.

"Maybe it couldn't hurt to go back." He finally resolved. "Just for a fast bite. And maybe to let Mom and Dad see us."

"Right!" Jazz said, throwing her arm around her brother's shoulders. "Just a quick trip."

Or so they thought.

***Until next time!**


	9. Chapter 9: Fate Foretold

***Hello my lovely Halfas! I know Ch. 8 took the longest to produce so I am going to start right away and work towards another one. I at first had absolutely no outline, but I found that it became increasingly more difficult to write without one ha. So I usually plan about five chapters ahead. I'm not sure how long this Fic of ours will be, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Without further ado…**

**Chapter 9**

Sam and Tucker were now as warm as they were going to get. They were sitting around an actual fire now that had taken the greater part of the evening to create. The rest of the yetis stayed their distance, not exactly attracting to the warm flickering of the hot fire.

Now that they had a little bit of time to talk alone, Sam figured it was time to voice her concerns, about everything.

"Tuck, what if something's really wrong with Danny? And have you seen the way Frostbite looks when we bring him up?" The two teenagers were huddled together sitting on a snow bench.

"Dude, I'm sure he's fine. He's a ghost; he can handle himself in the _Ghost _Zone." Tucker said, keeping his hands in his pocket to shield them from the light breeze.

"Half ghost." Sam said softly.

"Yes, half ghost. And you saw how his powers…did whatever they did back at Skulker's. No worries, Sam. He'll be fine."

"Tucker! That's exactly what I'm worried about. Not only did he overexert himself, but every single thing in the room was reduced to literally nothing. Danny doesn't have that kind of power! And if he does, how do we know he can control! Has he always had it or is this something new? Tucker, are you even listening!"

"Yes, well after the first three minutes of your rant I started to drift but...Ow! You don't have to hit me!"

Sam got up out of aggravation after punching Tucker in his right arm. She began to pace around the fire. All of a sudden the shadow of a large creature began to creep up behind her.

A low voice began to speak. "Samantha, Tucker, are you worried about young Danny?" Frostbite asked, taking a seat on a snow chair across the fire from the two teenagers.

"Well, I'm not nearly as worried as much as Sam is." Tucker piped up.

"You should be." Frostbite voice resonated softly.

That made Sam stop in her tracks.

"What?" Sam asked, nearly yelling in panic.

"You might have noticed by now that your young ghost friend is experiencing…certain things. His power is exponentially growing if I'm not mistaken. He may be experiencing extreme fatigue? Maybe his powers are on the "fritz" as you kids say? Has he lost his powers at all?"

Each of these signs came in the form of a question from Frostbite. Tucker and Sam began to worry.

"Well…maybe a little?" Tucker said almost inaudibly.

"Has there been anything else? If not then this is only just the beginning and we can bring Danny here, to help."

The two teenagers stayed silent, both thinking of the exact same thing, the room of rubble.

Sam decided to mention it, unsure if she even had a voice anymore. "There was one…incident. We were fighting Skulker and Tucker and I were in trouble so Danny, well he saved us, but he…he seemed to use a lot of energy and he pretty much blasted the room and reduced it to nothing. And then he was out cold and then we were attacked again on our way home and that's how we got separated." At first she was stuttering and then she was talking so quickly that she hadn't even taken a breath.

The moment of silence from Frostbite was agonizing; each second lasting longer than the next, until Frostbite finally spoke.

"This is troubling." He said, focusing on each word as he breathed them.

"Why! What does this all mean?" Sam really was shouting now.

"Children," Frostbite began, "You both know that there are only two true Halfas in existence. It could be argued that one is on the side of 'good' and the other 'evil'." Sam sat back down next to Tucker, the two nodding at Frostbite to go on. "It wasn't always destined that this would be so. Although we all have free will to make our own choices, they all will lead back to where fate has foretold."

"Whoa whoa whoa. Are you trying to tell us that no matter what they choose to do, Vlad and Danny are either going to end up good or evil, even without their say?" Sam asked, trying to keep up with the information her brain was downloading.

"Fate is an extremely abstract concept to grasp. By nature, the ghost halves of Danny and Mr. Masters will take over altogether. It is as though the human and the ghost are competing for total control. By nature, ghosts aren't docile beings. There's a reason ghosts haunt and wreak havoc, because it's simply who they are."

Before he could go on, Sam interrupted him. "But Danny is also human! He's totally normal when he's…normal."

"That may be so for now, but within him, and maybe without his knowledge, his two halves are at constant battle. And if his ghost half takes control, he will become evil."

Both Tucker and Sam had their mouths dropped open, as if a ghostly wail may escape their lips if they were anything more than just human.

Tucker couldn't wrap his head around the fact that his best friend could turn out to be evil, after all the good he had done for Amity. And Sam struggled with the fact that Danny's two halves were competing and were bound to cause even more problems.

"I know it is a lot. But we are not helpless in this fight. We all must do our part to keep young Danny from the shadows of his future. It will benefit no ghost, human, or creature if Danny were to turn."

With the foreboding threat of Danny's future, Sam snapped out of her thoughts. "What can we do?"

"Danny is experiencing these struggles now for a reason. As a teenager, both his human and ghost halves are going through a type of growth spurt you could say. There has only been one ghost in all of existence that has overcome his ghost half and could teach Danny to do the same."

Tucker understood just a moment before Sam did. "No way! No. No way in the world are we doing that! Are you crazy!" He cried out, throwing his hands in the air.

Sam understood. "You want us to get Vlad to help Danny!? UH I think the ice has frozen your brain Frostbite! There are so many things wrong with that idea!"

"Now hold on a moment…" Before Frostbite could continue Sam interrupted him again.

"First off, what possible reasoning would Vlad have to actually help, not hurt, help Danny? What will keep him from killing Danny? Why should we have to go to him!? This can't possibly be the only way!" She roared at the beast sitting across from her, venom in her eyes.

Frostbite took a few moments to let Sam and Tucker cool down. He knew it was a lot to handle for the both of them, so much was at stake.

"Vlad is the only one who _can _help. You should see to it he does, or else I fear the worst, as should you." He said it with such finality that his remark made Sam and Tucker keep their questions to themselves.

"As the sun is to rise soon, I will leave you to sleep. I'll have Lance bring you what we have of warm materials, I would suggest coming into one of the caves when you are ready for there is less wind there."

And with that Frostbite got up and walked away. Tucker and Sam sat in silence until they decided that they should in fact get some rest, they could really use some sweet dreams right about now.

However, their dreams were anything but sweet.

Danny and Jazz's trip home was anything but quick. They were both exhausted by the time they flew back through the portal and into the basement. They had made it a point to grab some dinner and to let their parents at least see that their kids were home. However, this last part of the plan didn't go how they planned. Their parents had roped them into going on patrol for the entire evening.

As they drove down the streets of Amity in their decked out RV, Danny was struggling to keep his eyes open, although the sudden sharp turns his dad took while driving helped wake him up. "Dad… Isn't hunting ghosts dangerous?" Danny tried to think of any excuse to go back.

"Normally I would say yes son, but don't worry! I feel confident that your mother and I can protect you. And thanks to our little gadget around your waste, no ghost can touch ya!" Jack called back from the driver's seat.

Danny looked down at his waist, reminding himself of the Fenton Belt he was wearing that kept him from going ghost. He then looked over at Jazz who was holding on for dear life in the seat next to him. He practically begged her with his expression to try to get them out of this.

Understanding, Jazz tried her best. "Mom, even though it's the weekend, Danny and I do have a lot of homework!" She called up to her mom who was in the front passenger seat, holding a bazooka have way out the window.

"Now now Jazz! Your education is important but it can wait an hour or two. One day it'll be up to you two to protect Amity Park from ghosts." Their red-headed mom called back.

Both Danny and Jazz looked at the other and rolled their eyes, knowing full well that they had been protecting it way more than their parents.

It had been almost four hours since they returned from the Ghost Zone. Both of them had just wanted to come back quick and head back out. But now that they were home, they both wouldn't have minded a nap.

Their parents dragged them around town for another two hours. They had vaporized nothing more than the box ghost, twice. However the two 'children' as their parents put it, weren't allowed out of the assault vehicle.

Both Danny and Jazz dragged their feet into the house, exhausted.

"Ghost fighting really wore you two kids out didn't it?" Jack called, giving a hard slap to Danny's shoulder that was supposed to show affection.

The young boy had to grit his teeth to keep from calling out. Although Danny's shoulder was almost one-hundred percent healed from his fight with Ember, it still didn't feel great to be hit exactly where his injury used to be.

"Okay!" Jazz stepped in, putting her arm around Danny, her voice high with nervous laughter. "Us kids are just gonna walk on up to our rooms now to do some homework, probably won't be down for the rest of the night. Okay bye!" She called back as she and Danny rushed upstairs to Danny's room.

They both sat on his bed, barely keeping themselves in a seated position they were so tired.

"Maybe we go back tomorrow?" Danny offered, hoping to get a wonderful night's sleep.

"Deal. I was trying to get us home so we could go back out, but I need a good four hours of sleep at least. Good night little brother." Jazz slowly got up and walked on over to her room and lightly shut the door behind her.

Danny lay back on his bed; staring at the glow-in-the dark stars he had placed on his ceiling to resemble constellations. All he wanted was to be able to look up at those stars with Sam and Tucker at his side.

His eyelids began to droop as his body relaxed more and more. He was asleep almost instantly.

His dreams weren't vivid in the least, but something was trying to make way into the forefront of his mind. In his dream, Danny couldn't stop hearing a steady beeping sound. It was familiar but just allusive enough that he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Then the beeping would stop and his ghost self would start flying again and then the cycle would continue. He couldn't tell how long the dream had lasted but he knew that it had to be important.

Although neither of them would ever mention it to the other when they woke up, both Sam and Tucker had the same horrifying dream as each other. They saw a different time, which they hoped to never come true. They had dreamed of Danny, but not as himself. He was nowhere near the lovable and charming teenager that they knew and adored. He was evil, his soul as black as it could get. He dominated the world without even lifting a finger. He was in complete control over both the Earth and the Ghost Zone every creature feared him. They saw Danny vaporize and shred towns apart, just for the amusement of it. They saw him slaughter ghosts and humans alike as if they were one in the same. If they hadn't have been dreaming they would have vomited on the spot at seeing the decaying and smoldering bodies littering the earth's floor.

It was an unspeakable relief when the two had woken up, a cold sweat sending shivers down their spines, their eyes incapable of erasing what the future could be.

***I have so many ideas you can't even believe it! Please, please, please review! It literally means so much to me! More than it probably should but oh well! More to come. Things are only starting to get interesting!**


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